Chapter 80
Chapter 80: The unfamiliar one (2) God of Cooking
Name：God of Cooking
The first ingredient Jo Minjoon thought of using was octopus. For Westerners, and especially for sailors, it was an ingredient that was famous for being called as the devil fish. It wasn’t that there were no octopus dishes in the region of the Mediterranean Sea, like Spain, France, and Italy, but even so, it was an ingredient Westerners avoided. In Korea, it was similarly treated as jellyfish. And perhaps, it was even worse than that.
The proper recipes he knew about octopus was teriyaki or octopus sushi. But it was the kind of dish that was difficult to get a cooking score of 7, because the cooking process was too simple.
To pick cow tripes… it was a dish he ate more than cook, and the only cooking process he could think of was grilling or frying. It wasn’t easy to get a high score with that simple cooking method. To accompany it with purée or sauce, he wasn’t confident on thinking up something that could suit well with cow tripe.
In the end, what Jo Minjoon picked was the truffle, precisely speaking the box that contained the white truffle. At least, he knew much more cooking methods compared to octopus and cow tripe. Alan just looked at the box and said.
“Truffle……Although it looks to be the easiest from here, it’s the most difficult ingredient to bring the right aroma. What are you planning to cook with that?”
“I haven’t decided yet. I’m halfway there. I will decide when I get to know the cooking time.”
“Then, I will immediately announce the time for cooking. One hour. It’s not for only you, Minjoon, but everyone here has to complete their dishes in that time.”
One hour. Many recipes he had thought of disappeared. Alan just stared at Jo Minjoon. And only then did Jo Minjoon notice him and returned to his place with an ‘ah’. Emily covered the lid for the remaining 7 boxes and said.
“Everybody turn around. I will change the position of the boxes. Nobody look this way before I tell you to do so.
The eight participants all turned back. The sound of lifting and placing the boxes was heard. Kaya tried to concentrate on that sound. From the right, from the left. However, even if she did concentrate, there was no way she would know where the boxes went. Because they could have lifted it and just placed it in the same place. Kaya frowned.
‘It would be good if only I don’t get that.’
She was confident in being able to handle most of the ingredients. She even had experience cooking octopus in the market. Because when the market people gave her ingredients that were about to rot, she couldn’t throw it away, even if it was a monster like octopus.
‘As I can’t roast it, I will have to put the flavor as it is on the dish………’
Just like the thing that was in the box wasn’t black truffle but white truffle, you just couldn’t roast the truffle itself. Unlike black truffle, you had to eat the white truffle whole to save that aroma. If you boiled it in water and stored it just like in the french method, the aroma would disappear. And because of that, in Italy they preferred white truffle and in the France they preferred black truffle.
So because of that, the recipes Jo Minjoon thought of were mostly Italian dishes. The most normal thing was grating the truffle on the oil pasta. There was also that method of putting it on a meat dish, and making the aroma of meat and the aroma of truffle not collide wasn’t a difficult thing to do. And it was also good sprinkling some on a well-made omelette.
‘First, oil pasta, or gratin with macaroni or gnocchi…….’
Thinking about the given time, the latter one was a better option. Because making oil pasta for one hour was really inefficient. Even if you made it slowly, it was a dish that could be completed in 20 minutes. It was obvious that it would become a deducting factor.
If he were to make gnocchi, the problem was in if he could hand make it. You boiled potatoes, cooled it, mixed it with flour and eggs and made the dough. Just doing that would take one hour. Jo Minjoon’s eyes became sharper. It was the moment to choose. Was he going to use a commercial gnocchi knowing that the quality was going to fall, or was he going to put up with the danger and hand make it?
‘Cream cheese for the sauce.’
He also thought of putting in tomato sauce, but it was better to use the cream cheese that utilized gorgonzola to not make the aroma clash with the truffle. The combination of gorgonzola and truffle wasn’t that bad. First of all, the estimated cooking score that popped up in his head was much better that way. It was at that moment. Alan opened his mouth.
“The time for designing your dishes ended. Everybody start cooking!”
Sound of looking for the ingredients busily was heard in all over the place. However, Jo Minjoon first started to boil the water in a pot. If he started to boil the potatoes even a little late, it was no different to having failed his dish already.
Jo Minjoon first sliced the potato in half. And when it started to boil, he put it on the pot. He had even brought smaller potatoes for it to cook quicker. What remained was for the fire to reduce the time.
Aside from that, the ingredients were simple. Cream, butter, onions, gorgonzola cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese, and salt and pepper.
Jo Minjoon first chopped the onions and took off the moisture. After that, mixed whipping cream and cream on a 1-1 ratio. Then, he fried butter and the onions which moisture was removed on a pan, and when the onion got considerably yellowish he had to put the cream and the gorgonzola cheese.
He waited for the sauce to boil, and Jo Minjoon checked the potatoes. In the first place, they were small potatoes, and because he had sliced it in half, it was already cooked. Jo Minjoon put a bowl on top of ice water and put the potatoes on top of that. It was to cool down the potatoes a little faster.
There was still some time for the cream cheese sauce to boil and for the gorgonzola to melt. Jo Minjoon slightly looked at Kaya. It seemed like she was planning to stew. However, honestly speaking, he didn’t want to eat it however she made it. Even if the cooking score was 10, he wasn’t planning to eat it. Perhaps, it would be better if it was brain. But to eat that, as a same guy, no, as the same male, it was a sinful food to eat.
‘I don’t know if I would vomit eating that.’
Jo Minjoon laughed bitterly and shook his head. It was at that moment when he was feeling the importance of the ingredients. Then, the judges approached them. Joseph asked.
“What are you making?”
“It’s potato gnocchi gratin with cream cheese sauce. I’m planning to place the truffle on top of the finished gratin.”
“The strong aroma of cheese may devour the aroma of truffle. Did you think about that?”
“The proportions would be impor……..”
Jo Minjoon, that was talking, stopped at that moment. Bang! Bang! Those sound kept sounding. And each time, Jo Minjoon flinched. Kaya was holding the phallus of the cow and striking down with her knife. Aside of being bloody and fierce, as a man, it was a scene that could only make you shiver and get goosebumps.
The judges also turned to look. Emily was putting on a funny expression, but Joseph’s and Alan’s faces were a little pale. Kaya seemed to have sensed their sights, but after she slightly turned her head, she looked at them and said while grinning. It was the smile of a devil.
“This is fun. I think I will get addicted to it.”
< The unfamiliar one (2) > End